Using Pictures to Stimulate Development through Learning Words: The Effect of Personal Photographs and Picture Communication Symbols on Increasing Sight Word Vocabulary for Students with Severely Limited Reading Ability

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Using Pictures to Stimulate Development through Learning Words: The Effect of Personal Photographs and Picture Communication Symbols on Increasing Sight Word Vocabulary for Students with Severely Limited Reading Ability

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a reading intervention on
increasing the sight word recognition using language books across three instructional
phases for three students with moderate disabilities. Students’ attitudes and parents’
perceptions of the instructional methods employed were also assessed. A multiple
baseline design across participants was implemented to examine the effect of reading
strategies on increasing sight word vocabulary for children with moderate disabilities
who were an average age of 17.7 years. All the participants were able to understand
simple directions and had limited conversational speech. Target words were selected
using parent input. Following baseline condition, during which student performance was
assessed using flash cards containing words, the three treatment phases included use of:
(a) phase I: personal photographs embedded within the new vocabulary words; (b) phase
II: picture communication symbols; and (c) phase III: generalization to flash cards
containing only words. Student maintenance of word recognition was also measured.
Reading accuracy data were collected during each phase. Participant surveys and parent
interviews were analyzed to examine the attitudes and perceptions of their parents. Visual
inspection of the data revealed that all the participants increased their sight word
vocabulary using both reading strategies, including personal photographs and picture
communication symbols. These findings were also supported by exceptionally high levels
of percent of nonoverlapping data from baseline to treatment phases and statistical
significance on randomization tests. Two of the three participants were able to generalize
their knowledge during the flashcard phase. Survey results revealed that two of the three
students preferred using personal photographs for learning new vocabulary words. All
parents were positive in their assessment of the instructional methods used and reported
that their expectations for instruction were met. These findings support previous studies
demonstrating that certain reading strategies can be effective for increasing sight word
vocabulary for individuals with moderate intellectual disabilities who have severely
limited reading ability. Future research can address which of the strategies implemented
may be more powerful for similar students.